256 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. I02 



residence one Wednesday afternoon, January 26, 1549, day of St. 

 Polycarp Bishop and Martyr; and while the Bishop was talking 

 with a Dominican friar and a cleric, he stabbed him several times. 

 The Bishop fell beside a large earthen jar which stood there ; and 

 while the friar was aiding him to die like a Christian, and was hearing 

 his confession, they plundered the Bishop's residence, and the Royal 

 Treasury, and committed other robberies and outrages in the city. 

 Meanwhile the friar Padre Fray Alonso was aiding the Bishop to 

 die like a Christian ; the Bishop was holding a crucifix in his hands ; 

 and when he asked him to whom he left his church entrusted, he 

 replied that he left it to the One whom he was holding in his hands ; 

 He was the bridegroom and would take care of the church ; and 

 having confessed and done acts of contrition, he repeated the credo 

 and expired in the friar's arms, in the presence of his grief-stricken 

 mother. 



Chapter XXIX 



Continuing the Theme of the Preceding Chapter and Describing 

 the End Met by the Contreras ; of the City of Leon, and Other 

 Matters. 



737. After the Bishop's death they begged permission from the 

 Contreras to bury him ; having secured this, they buried him with 

 great lamentation and shedding of tears on the part of most of the 

 citizens. Thereupon the rebels proclaimed liberty throughout the 

 city, raised an army and threw all that kingdom into confusion ; 

 then they left after committing a thousand crimes, and went to 

 Panama, where they captured the city and all the treasure which 

 Licentiate Gasca was conveying to His Majesty ; but with their 

 maladministration they lost it all, and then all perished, as is related 

 by Zarate of Palencia, Gomara, and Antonio de Herrera, where the 

 details may be seen. 



738. The city of Leon from its beginning had grown in population 

 and wealth ; but after the great sacrilege committed by Contreras 

 in murdering its prelate, it commenced to feel the displeasure of 

 Heaven ; great plagues and mortal disasters came ; wives did not 

 bear living children, and those who did live, did not thrive. The 

 neighboring volcano thundered and bellowed, so that there were 

 several earthquakes and rivers of fire dashed down its sides. All 

 this intimidated the citizens, as chastisement from Heaven ; but they 

 held out under these afflictions, though continually growing fewer, 

 until 1 605- 1 606, when the volcano gave such tremendous and awe- 

 inspiring thunderclaps, with terrific earthquakes, that I was assured 



